Roseville Issues Forum Project Overview

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Roseville Issues Forum Project Overview This overview includes a brief project summary, background information on local Issues Forums, examples of topics from existing local Issues Forums, information on consultant Tim Erickson, and the project tasks, schedule, and budget. Following that is reference information on E- Democracy.Org Forum Rules and the St. Paul E- Democracy constitution and bylaws to provide some perspective on a Forum governance structure that Roseville may choose to adopt. Summary The City of Roseville will provide the resources needed to launch a community -based Roseville Issues Forum that leverages the energy and participation from Imagine Roseville 2025 and provides a means to keep people engaged in civic issues for years to come. Background A local Issues Forum is a meaningful online space like a town hall meeting or public commons for residents and community leaders to meet "virtually," and discuss important community issues. A local Issues Forum provides a flexible (anytime anyplace opportunity for any participant to raise an issue of community interest or concern, seek input or support from other participants, ask a question, make a public announcement, or monitor public opinion. The concept of an online local Issues Forum was initiated in Minneapolis in 1998 and has since spread to other communities. E- Democracy.Org supports and manages local Issues Forums reaching thousands of participants. as close as Winona and St. Paul and as far away as the United Kingdom. The goals of a local Issues Forum are to give everyone a greater voice in local decisions and encourage more citizen participation in local public policy making. It also provides a forum for decision makers to receive immediate feedback from the community on issues that must be decided or voted on in council. One of the most important features of a local Issues Forum is that it is driven by community members. Any forum member can introduce a topic, concern, or idea for discussion as long as it relates to an issue that impacts the quality of life in the local community. Forums are open ended and multi threaded, meaning that participants may be discussing several topics or issues concurrently. A local Issues Forum empowers individual citizens to bring their ideas, suggestions, and concerns to the forefront of public attention, while at the same time managing those contributions by using the software to limit members to two posts per day, and having the Forum facilitated by a moderator who enforces rules of civility and respect. Examples Below are some recent threads (topics) on the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Winona Issues Forums. See www.e-democracy.org for more information: Wi -fi in our libraries Holman Field floodwall Migratory waterfowl and city parks News articles of interest on <date> Light rail podcast at the library Managing occupant behavior through Stirring up the light rail pot code enforcement SuperTarget on University approved Roseville Issues Forum Project: Tim Erickson, 651 246 -5045 or tim e- democracy.org_ Page 1 6 June 2006